Virginia Brown

  • WA prostitution law debated

    A bill legalising aspects of brothel operation is being debated by Western Australia’s parliament. The Prostitution Amendment Bill 2007 would change the current legislative approach to brothels from one of “containment” (brothels, while technically illegal, are regulated by the police), to one where brothel managers and owners could be formally registered.

  • Defending domestic violence

    PERTH &#151 "Today, men are the only standing target. It is no longer permissible to take potshots at women. A few decades of lobbying by women activists has taken care of that. But men are still fair game for television

  • Left candidates debate

    PERTH — The variety of backgrounds of the 30 activists who gathered for Socialist Alliance's first "politics in the pub" forum on October 19 — refugee rights and anti-war campaigners, candidates from different left-wing

  • Ruddock gets rowdy welcome

    PERTH — Thirty refugee supporters protested outside a meeting addressed by immigration minister Philip Ruddock at Subiaco Oval on October 3. Organised by the Refugee Rights Action Network, the peaceful protest highlighted

  • Should men participate in women's rights marches?

    BY VIRGINIA BROWN & SARAH STEPHEN PERTH — This year's International Women's Day march here on March 10 was a huge success, with larger numbers marching with more energy and enthusiasm than for many years. There was also an unusually large number

  • NOWSA: setting the agenda

    By Emma Murphyand Virginia Brown MELBOURNE — On February 22, the Network Of Women Students Australia collective (NOWSA) decided that the plenary sessions for the July conference would be: Women and capitalism; Exploring different feminisms;

  • Women quiz candidates

    MELBOURNE — The Reclaim the Night (RTN) collective hosted a "meet the candidates" forum here on September 24. All parties contesting the federal election were invited to speak about what they would do for women if elected. The

  • South African activist tours

    PERTH — The International Women's Day collective and West Australian-South African Solidarity have joined forces to tour Jabulile Matilda Ndlovu, a South African women's activist, trade unionist and writer. Meetings will be held

  • Campaign to save the ABC grows

    PERTH — Following the Howard government's announcement of funding cuts to the national broadcaster, ABC staff from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the Community and Public Sector Union and supporters organised a

  • A tale of two conferences

    PERTH — The scarlet-coloured leaflet advertised the Fremantle branch of the Australian Labor Party meeting as "Re-visioning Labor". It was to assess the federal election result and discuss where to go to next.